Dumb question---HALIDE

[glibgoat]

yesterday I purhcased my first set of halides. Everything looks much brighter and healthier! My tank is a 65 g, with the divider in the middle of the tank. This was to hold the glass tops. However it is causing a big shadow to go down the middle of my tank. Is it ok to cut this plastic strip off? Does this do anything structurally to the tank?

 

[drew2005]

Originally Posted by Glibgoat
yesterday I purhcased my first set of halides. Everything looks much brighter and healthier! My tank is a 65 g, with the divider in the middle of the tank. This was to hold the glass tops. However it is causing a big shadow to go down the middle of my tank. Is it ok to cut this plastic strip off? Does this do anything structurally to the tank?
I wouldn't recommend cutting that strip. It acts as supports for the top half of the tank. Cutting that could weaken the support of the tank.

 

[anubisxero]

Make sure you have your halide at least 9 inches above the tank. 1. the heat from the halide can really raise the temp in your tank. 2. i have a sunpod that sits right over the water about 3 inches from that bar that makes the shadow and well in like 3 months that bar got so melted it snapped and the tank lost it's support. You can do 1 of two things, you can add support to the tank in spots on the right and left side and remove the middle support or you can raise the light and bite the bullet of having a shadow in the middle. But for mine since the support was destroyed I had to use a ratchet tie around the top of the tank to keep it from bowing out too much and after that since it couldn't do it's job anymore I removed the broken bar.
Jason.

 

[scsinet]

Generally, tanks that have one or more center braces look better with a halide in each "compartment" between center braces.
You should definitely NOT cut the center brace. It's part of the tank's structural integrity. Cutting it will cause the glass on the front and back of the tank to bow and possibly (over time) shatter.
It would be in you best interest to raise the lighting system to where the shadow is not as obvious, deal with the shadow, or purchase another halide system so the systems are not over the braces.